Found a place that sells a "kit" for building your own floor scale. My kit can handle 20K. The kit has all the guts you need, I need to provide my own platform. They recommend 3/4 or 1" aluminum. Price was $340 for the kit. I ordered one so I can weigh each position, one at a time. This should solve my 4 corner weighing issue which hasn't been done in a long time. A & A Scales

Neat!I would suggest building three dummy platforms so that you can keep the coach level while weighing each corner. Having it tilted an inch or two in varying directions will lead to inaccuracy. With a little care in planning, the dummy platforms could just be a couple 2x10's stacked or something equally straightforward.

I've never weighed my motorhome since I drove it off the showroom floor. Full of fuel, propane and water I headed to the scales and it was overweight. I've been RVing since 1976 and I have never weighed any of my RV's. I've never had any handling problems in any of my RV's. I guess I've just been lucky!

Reality: Handling is HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE.If all you had ever driven were 1970's American cars, a BMW or MB would awaken you to a whole new level of handling. Same for motorhomes.I have worked on and done mechanical inspections on coaches I would NOT drive. Yet the owners did not know there was anything sub-standard. I am talking about things like shocks hanging from one end, bell cranks with 1" of play, etc.So, unlike factual information, handling and ride for that matter are often subject to interpretation.

Sounds like a waste of $340 and your time. Cat scales are cheap.

azdryheat wrote:Sounds like a waste of $340 and your time. Cat scales are cheap.But CAT scales don't do four corner weights.

Floor Scales | Good Sam Community

28 Replies

sailor_lou
Explorer
Nov 13, 2015
I always ignore the posters that have nothing constructive to all, they are everywhere on the internet and so brave behind the keyboard. In any case, I'd be interested in hearing how it works out. I'm considering getting a setup myself, esp. at a price that low.

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy
Effy
Explorer II
Nov 13, 2015
Pirate wrote:
What a bunch of opinionated a$$holes on this forum. I only wanted to post a source for a product. I didn't ask about how I spent my money, how to weight four corners, should I weigh four corners, etc. No wonder people don't want to post here.

Amen. This forum has it's share of crusty opinionated blowhards with little regard for civility. Amazing, most campers I meet in real life are nice, must not have run into many of the folks on here. Some are ok but many are more like trolls than not.

Anyway, thanks for sharing. You know what they say; " no good deed goes unpunished".
Pirate1
Explorer
Nov 13, 2015
What a bunch of opinionated a$$holes on this forum. I only wanted to post a source for a product. I didn't ask about how I spent my money, how to weight four corners, should I weigh four corners, etc. No wonder people don't want to post here.
Passin_Thru
Explorer
Nov 13, 2015
I think it's a waste. I don't care what 4 corners weigh, I just weigh front and back axles and divide by 400 or some silly number. $340.00 will buy enough fuel to go from N Va to Orlando and back to NC.
45Ricochet
Explorer
Nov 12, 2015
Pirate wrote:
45Ricochet wrote:
Actually a CAT scale can give you a pretty close corner weight, but it will cost you double the price.
First weight on two rear platforms, yeah rough to reach the microphone button :B Call it 32K lbs total 20 rear and 12 front.
Now start a new ticket with the DS off the same two platforms. Note weights.
Now do the reweigh with the PS off the platforms. Note weights.
If these two last weights are close to your first total weight on the axles I believe your close to corner weights.
Disclaimer..... Most CAT scales are fairly level for platform vs roadway. If not YMMV

We had a guy report a 900 lb difference on the front axle at the Freightliner plant in NC. Duh I would want to air up to that amount, not half of it.
I haven't been to many cat scales but the ones I have been through did not have any room to scoot to either side.

Yeah I hear you but some you can do it from the 2 rear platforms and NOT the steer axle platform. State of Washington leave their un-maned scales on and they are really flat for getting wheel weights. Price is better also :W
Pirate1
Explorer
Nov 12, 2015
45Ricochet wrote:
Actually a CAT scale can give you a pretty close corner weight, but it will cost you double the price.
First weight on two rear platforms, yeah rough to reach the microphone button :B Call it 32K lbs total 20 rear and 12 front.
Now start a new ticket with the DS off the same two platforms. Note weights.
Now do the reweigh with the PS off the platforms. Note weights.
If these two last weights are close to your first total weight on the axles I believe your close to corner weights.
Disclaimer..... Most CAT scales are fairly level for platform vs roadway. If not YMMV

We had a guy report a 900 lb difference on the front axle at the Freightliner plant in NC. Duh I would want to air up to that amount, not half of it.
I haven't been to many cat scales but the ones I have been through did not have any room to scoot to either side.
creeper
Explorer
Nov 12, 2015
45Ricochet wrote:
Actually a CAT scale can give you a pretty close corner weight, but it will cost you double the price.
First weight on two rear platforms, yeah rough to reach the microphone button :B Call it 32K lbs total 20 rear and 12 front.
Now start a new ticket with the DS off the same two platforms. Note weights.
Now do the reweigh with the PS off the platforms. Note weights.
If these two last weights are close to your first total weight on the axles I believe your close to corner weights.
Disclaimer..... Most CAT scales are fairly level for platform vs roadway. If not YMMV

We had a guy report a 900 lb difference on the front axle at the Freightliner plant in NC. Duh I would want to air up to that amount, not half of it.

The cat scales I've seen in our area have concrete posts that prevent you from moving off the sides and yes it's sloped on the sides even if they posts weren't there. From what I was told at our local Loves is that the posts are there to prevent truckers from moving wheels off the sides and getting fake weights.
Hank_MI
Explorer
Nov 12, 2015
dons2346 wrote:
" At full weight your tires require 100 psi. So 1 side is 600lbs heavier. That's a difference of 3.5%. So what do you do? One set of tires(side) get's 101.75lbs and the other side get's 98.25lbs. "

This is totally wrong. Tires on the same axle should be set to the weight of the heaviest side.

My mistake, so both sides should be increased by 3.5 psi. Had you just weighed the axle at a CAT scale and assumed both sides the same you would have only increased the pressure 1.75 psi. That leaves your tires under-inflated by a whopping 1.75 psi, assuming your gauge is that accurate. Sounds like a major catastrophe waiting to happen.
Effy
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2015
wolfe10 wrote:
dons2346 wrote:

This is totally wrong. Tires on the same axle should be set to the weight of the heaviest side.

Absolutely correct. All tires on an axle are pressurized based on the heavier wheel position on that axle.

But not sure this thread is about facts as much as it is about opinions.

True but 3 psi difference in tires is nominal. Most store bought gauges probably aren't even accurate to 2-3 psi.
Dale_Traveling
Explorer II
Nov 12, 2015
Be a great stocking stuffer if only we hadn't replaced the kitchen in the homestead last month. You'll make a lot of friends at a Rally even if you charge a fee. Couple of dollars a tire would be reasonable.

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Floor Scales

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